Firing device for projectiles



T. W. WALKER.

FIRING DEVICE FOR PROJECTILES. APPLICATION FILED Aue.8. I917.

1,434,173. Patented 0015131, 1922.

2/ .1 e 1 55 L20 21 22-6 //7 & /2 I THATCHER w. WALKER, or COLGATE,MARYLAND, AssreNor. T0 THE, BARTLETT HAYWARD COMPANY, or BALTIMORE,MARYLAND, A CORPORATION or MARY, LAND.

FIRING DEVICE FOR PROJECTILES.

Application filed Augustfi, 1917. Serial No. 185,012.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THATCHIER W. WALKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Colgate, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Firing De vices forProjectiles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved impact firing device forprojectiles or shells.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved construction offiring device that will be simple in construction, avoid the use of afiring pin that is movable with respect to the body that carries it toput it into an armed condition; that will dispense wlth shear devices,and which will operate only upon rotation of the shell and during theaction of centrifugal force.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing wherein,

Fig. 1, shows a longitudinal sectional view through a fuse-body ,or casein the chamber of which the improved firing device is located.

Figs. 2 and 3, illustrate the detached firing device in sideelevation,one view being taken in a direction at a right angle withrespect to the other.

Fig. 4:, shows the detached firing device in top plan.

Fig. 5, illustrates a vertical sectional detail through the device asthe same would appear if out on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6, shows another sectional detail through the device,the sectionbeing taken on the line 66 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7. illustrates the detached firingnn bar in side elevation.

Fig. 8 shows a sectional view through the firing device with the partsin the firing position and Fig. 9, illustrates the same in sideelevation.

In the present disclosure of the invention, the improved firing deviceor plunger is shown as contained in the chamber a, of a fuse or stockbody b,a simple form of such stock being shown in Fig. 1, of the drawingfor illustrative purposes only, but

the invention is in no wayto be limited to the design or construction ofthe stock shown. r

In the present instance the stock has a circumferentially-threaded wallC, by means of which it may be attached in the base of. a shell, and atits inner end has a primer cap cl, which will be fired upon impact, toexplode the main charge in'the shell.

.[t is to be understood however thatthe improved firing device may belocated in a fuse-body at the nose-end of a shell, in which case, thebody containing the device, will be varied in design to meet theconditions causedby-such change in location. i

The improved device in the present instance, has a body 12, which isshaped exteriorly to conform to the shape of the chamber a, of the fusestock so as to maintain it against lateral movement in said chamber but,under conditions presently to be explained, permit certain of its partsto have a longitudinal movement in the said chamber. 7

In the present instance the chamber a, and the firing device body arecircular, and the latter is sufficiently smaller in diameter to enableit to have free longitudinal movement in the chamber as, and for apurpose presently to be explained. I

The body 12, is provided with a vertical slot 13,'which extendsdiametrically therein and crosswise from one side to the other of thebody. This slot opens at the upper side of the body but terminates shortof the lower side whereby to leave a thickness of nlietal at 14, acrossthe body and below the s 0t.

At the lower end of the slot the body is provided, in this instance,with two circular cavities'15, in which the lower ends of coinparativelylight coiled springs 16, are seated. The opposite side walls of the slot13, from the base of the slot upwardly, are provided with se -mentalcut-outs 17, so that a plunger-hea 18, may be seated on top of eachspring and be held against lateral displacement by having itsdiametrically opposite sides guided in the said out outs17. Theplunger-heads 18, are therefore yieldingly sustained in the slot and arecapable of verti- 'cal movement therein.

At the upper side, the body 12, is provided with a centralupwardly-projecting firing pin 19, which is rigid withand has no movement independently of the body.

The precise form and arrangement of this pin is not essential to theinvention, but in the present instance, it is formed on, or

vertical. slot ,22,.. at its .upper side whleh carried b a rigid bar 20,which extends di-. ametrical y across, and is secured in, a groove inthe u per side of the body. This bar, as seen in igs. 4, 5 and 6, of thedrawings, bridges the upper SldG'Of the 'slot 13, and closes said slotat a central point and beneath the firing pin 19.

A locking bar 21,..is carried by the body and has it lower portionextending down into ..the slot v13. Thisloekin'g .bar has a .straddlesthe .bar, 20, and the firing pin 19, and the base wall 23, of; the slotseats against the under side. of .the, firing pin or the bar-which.,.carriesthat.pin, as. clearly shown in Fig. 6.

.. per. sides of the two plunger heads 18,, where- The. under sideof;the locking bar is .shaped so as to produce-two side ledges 24:,

and a centralledge 25, the sideledges extendingzover and being seateduponfthe up by the locking. bar. will .be .iyieldingly held {up withvthe "base wall23, of the central slot :22, seating under the rigid barwhich forms a stop and limits the outward movement of 1 the'bar withrespecttothe slot,13. It will be noted that the normal position f the.locking bar .21, fisfsnch that its outer or upper edge'26, has position.beyond in a directionatfrightangles to the slot 13,,

theend of the. firing pin 19,.and that the .latter has a depressedposition in the slot 22, .of thelocking. bar where. it isretained. .in asafety condition.

Below .the. central ledge .25, of the locking bar the body 12,.;of..thedevice is provided with twmcrosswisepassages 27, extending and whose.inner ends are in alinement and openat opposite sidesofsaid slot, asshown ,at. its outer endwith asmaller passage 28,. so that a guide stem29, may be located in in Fig- 5, ofthe drawing.

Each. of these passages 27, communicates each passage withitsouter endguided in the smaller passage and its inner end connected to abolthhead30, which v latter can slide .in the larger passage 27.

Light coiled springs 31, areconfined in- ..therlarger passages andaround the guide stems29, so. asto press. thestems andbolt. heads 30,toward the center of the detonator.

body.

lBy reference. to Fig. 5, it will be: seenjthat.

ythe two bolt .heads 30, :arenormally located directly under'the centralledge25, of the. .lOckingbar andv are exposed to the interior of thevertical slotr13, so-asto prevent a telescopingmovement .of the lockingbar and.

mbody a nd therefore,.. as longasthe bolt heads, are in. this normalposition, the body and locking bar; cannot move,.one toward. the.

;'other,which isnecesSary .to expose the firing pin for-operation.

In practice, the device is placed in the chamber a, of the fuse stockwith the edge 26,

of the locking bar seated against; the under side of the plug 6, whichcarries the primer, and with the bottom of the body seated against theouter wall, f, of thestockchamber, as shown in Fig. 1. .In this safetyposition the locking bar is held projected from -theslot of-the plungerbody and the firing .armed condition, and accidental jars or shockscannot shift ,the parts to an armed condition because oflthe, bolt'heads' 30. It

will be noted that the device entirely avoids the, use of shear pins tohold? the device in asafety. condition, and therefore the, degree 1 ofshock to which ashell might be subjected has nothing to do with theliability of the device becoming armed.

.The arming of the improved device depends upon-the centrifugal forces,due to therotation of the shell in flight as will now be explained.

Figs. 8 and 9,.ofthe drawing show sectional and .side elevations.respectively, of the firing device with the parts in; the armedposition, orthe position theyassume at the .moment of impact of theshell.

Whenthe shell is .fired,.the firing device parts in the fuse stock willhave the position shown in Fig. 1, and as the shell leaves the gun therifling in. the latter willjimpart a rotationto it, so that duringflight, the shell is rotated at a comparatively high speed.

The centrifugal forces, due to the rotation of the shell, cause the.stems 29, and the boltheads 30, to moveradially in'thebody-pas sages 27,and against the action of the light springs 31, thereby moving thebolt-heads in opposite directions. and, from beneath the central. ledge25, of the lockinglbarz These bolt-heads. are maintained in theretracted condition throughout the rotation and flight of the shell butthebody 12, is held in its itearwardposition in the chamber f, by theaction of the springs 16, so that thefiring- ,pin on the body will not.move to strikethe primer a, and effect an explosion, until theprojectile itself strikes an object.

It will .be understood that the firing pin has no .movement independentof the body but moves only when. the body moves, and therefore. failureto arm is practically eliminated. .Itwillfurther be seen that byavoidingall manner. of shear devices to. keep the devicefrem arming,,that accidental, arming caused by jolts or jars is also eliminated.

By means of this invention the parts are locked 1n a safety condltlon,are unlocked only by centrifugal force during flight, and then havepractically no further movement until impact of the projectile takesplace.

If for any reason, the projectile be sub jected to a rotary motion thatwould cause the locking bolts to free the locking bar and thus put theparts in condition to arm, they will immediately return to a safetycondition as soon as the rotary motion ceases or falls below the speedat which the device is designed to operate.

Having described my invention what I claim is,

1. A firing device for projectiles having in combination a body, acentral firing pin rigid with and projecting in advance of the body,means normally projecting from the body at opposite sides and in advanceof the firing pin, yielding means on the inte rior of the body betweenthe inner part of the projecting means and the inner part of the saidbody for keeping the projecting means extended, andcentrifugally-operated locking means for normally holding the projectingmeans extended beyond the body and said rigid firing pin.

2. A firing device for projectiles having in combination a fuse stockprovidedwith a chamber, a plunger body in said chamber and provided witha longitudinal crossslot opening at the outer end thereof, a firing pinrigid with and projecting from the body, means extending longitudinallyof and seated in the body-slot and projecting from one end thereof andin advance of the rigid firing pin to prevent forward movement of theplunger body in said cham-. her, and locking means located within thebody and engaging the rear of the projecting means to normally maintainthe projecting means in the extended position.

8. A firing device for projectiles having in combination a body providedwith a diametrically-extending slot, a firing pin rigid with the body, abar entering the slot said bar being slotted and projecting therefrom atopposite sides of the firing pin and in advance of the latter andlocking means engaging the bar to prevent movement between the bar andbody.

4. A firing device for projectiles having in combination a circular bodyprovided with a diametrically-extending slot, a firing pin rigid withthe said body and projecting centrally therefrom, a vertical locking barseated in the body-slot said bar being slotted and projecting therefromin advance.

of the rigid firing pin and at opposite sides of the latter, and acentrifugally-releasable locking bolt between the bar and body toprevent movement of one toward the other.

5. A firing device for projectiles having in combination a circular bodyprovided with a diametrically-extending slot, a firing pin rigid withand projecting centrally from. the said body, a vertical locking barseated in the body-slot said bar being slotted and projecting therefromin advance and at opposite'sides of the rigid firing pin, longitudinallyyielding means interposed between the bar and body and tending to pressthe body and bar vertically from each other, and acentrifugally-releasable looking bolt between the bar and body.

6. A firing device. for projectiles having in combination a circularbody provided with a vertical cross-slot, a firing pin rigid with andprojecting centrally from the body, a vertical locking bar seated in theslot said bar being slotted and projecting vertically therefrom atopposite sides and in advance of the rigid firing pin andcentrifugally-releasable locking means carried by the body and engagingthe inner edge of the vertical bar to prevent movement of the body withrespect to the bar.

7. A firing device for projectiles having in combination a circular bodyprovided with a vertical cross-slot, a firing pin rigid with andprojecting centrally from the body, a vertical locking bar seated in theslot said bar being slotted and projecting vertically therefrom atopposite sides and in advance of the rigid firing pin, verticallyyielding I means in the slot for pressing the body in a directionawayfrom the bar and locking means also in the slot between the body and barto prevent movement of the body and rigid pin with respect to thelocking bar.

8. A firing device for projectiles having in combination a body providedwith a cross-slot, a firing pin projecting from the body, a locking barseated in the slot of the body and slotted to straddle and project inadvance of the firing pin, yielding means carried by the body'andengaging the locking bar to exert a pressure on the body in a directionaway from the bar and retain the firing pin in the slot of the lockingbar, and centrifugally-releasable locking means to normally preventmovement of the body toward the bar.

9. A firing device for projectiles having in combination a body providedwith. a cross-slot, a firing pin projecting from the body, a locking barseated in the cross slot, said bar being slotted and projecting atopposite sides of the firing pin said bar hava

